Ministry of Agriculture Swine Fever Not as Bad as Foot and Mouth Disease

Jakarta, Armfalcon.com —

Ministry of Agriculture (Ministry of Agriculture) claims viruses African swine fever or African Swine Fever (ASF) that attacks livestock will not be as bad as Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD).

Public Relations of the Directorate General of Livestock and Animal Health (PKH) Ministry of Agriculture Aryani Gumelar said the ASF virus had existed in Indonesia since late 2019. The disease has also been reported in several provinces.

“Considering that this disease only attacks pigs, the impact on livestock is not as big as FMD,” said Aryani to Armfalcon.com.com, Tuesday (16/5).

Based on editorial records, in June last year, there were 214,994 animals exposed to FMD outbreaks in Indonesia.

Even though it won’t be as big as PKM, Aryani said that her party doesn’t want to take it lightly. Understandably, the death rate caused by ASF is very high in pigs.

Moreover, the virus can last a long time in the environment and processed pork products.

“So the implementation of biosecurity in pig farms is very important for prevention,” added Aryani.

ASF is currently spreading in several areas of Indonesia, such as on Bulan Island, Batam, Riau Islands (Kepri) and South Sulawesi.

Aryani said that currently there is no commercial vaccine to treat ASF. Indeed, there have been several trials using the ASF vaccine in several countries, but they have not shown any evidence of effectiveness in preventing the virus.

“If a good ASF commercial type vaccine is available, then vaccination will be one of the options for Indonesia in preventing and
control ASF,” he said.

On a separate occasion, Minister of Agriculture Syahrul Yasin Limpo did not deny that the outbreak of ASF in the Riau Islands could have an impact on exports.

According to him, Singapore is currently the main export destination for Indonesian pigs. It is feared, with the spread of ASF, the Lion Country will be more selective.

“Actually, we only felt that there was a virus after there was some kind of complaint from Singapore, we just found out. That’s what we are looking for, is there really a virus from us or after he (the pig) was there. There is a transit place there, but we have handled it do it,” he said when met at the GBK Complex, last Sunday (14/5).

On the other hand, Syahrul admitted that he did not know how many pigs were affected. Currently still being examined.

Singapore had stopped importing pigs from Indonesia due to the discovery of the ASF virus. The country stopped importing pigs from Bulan Island, Batam since April 23 2023.

However, Singapore stated that it would reopen the import of pork from Indonesia in the form of carcass, aka whole meat. That way, they can still meet their pork needs while minimizing the spread of the virus.

[Gambas:Video CNN]

(mrh/sfr)

[Gambas:Video CNN]